Several weeks ago, producers sent out a casting announcement for a woman to play an insurance investigator who would get close with Castle. Very close.

Cue fan mayhem — and understandably so. After years of investing in one of TV’s greatest couples, were fans going to be betrayed? Was some strumpet going to come and steal Castle’s heart, which we all know belongs to one woman and one woman only?! Of course not! But it was sort of fun to watch the fandom meltdown that followed the casting call. (And, full disclosure: I had a brief, nonsensical “HELL TO THE NO” moment myself.)

Now that the episode has aired, we can breathe again. It’s nice, right? And, as usual, we got worked up over nothing because there was a lovely twist to the story that made everything — even the kiss — not so bad. Whew!

In case you didn’t watch, here’s what went down: Serena Kaye was an insurance investigator who also happened to have art-stealing skills. She got involved with Castle and Beckett on a case — and was briefly a suspect. And while she and Castle surely shared an attraction, she was definitely more into him than vice versa. But as Beckett saw Serena put the moves on Castle, she was unsure where Castle truly stood on the matter. Despite (insincerely) telling him to pursue it, she developed more than a little jealousy. Easily, my favorite part of the episode was when Beckett caught them kissing in the hallway (It was a diversion) and told Serena that she was being arrested for “Theft (long pause, subtext: OF MY MAN)…and murder.” Stana Katic played it perfectly.

Castle had to have been blind if he didn’t see the little hints of jealousy in Beckett, and I don’t think he missed a beat. If anything, this woman definitely brought Castle and Beckett closer to laying everything out on the table. And for that, I can’t be anything other than thankful. But on that note, you can go away now, Serena. Thanks.

I jest of course. It was overall a fun episode — mostly because it was a wonderful, fresh way to address the growing tension and lingering unsaid words between the two partners. And when it comes to Castle, those are always the most satisfying episodes. For me, anyway.

What about you, readers? What did you think of the episode? And are you glad that Serena turned out to be a fairly minor Caskett interference?